Just a quick one..

Hello all,

Just popping in to say that my Folksy shop is now open! And its here. 

Happy shopping 

xo

New Obsessions: 1 of 3

          I don’t know about any of you but I seem to find myself going through cycles of obsessions, where I’ll practice a particular technique over and over and in different ways until something new catches my eye. This time, however, I’ve been doing several new things at once and I guess you could put them all under the term ‘embellishments’. The first of the new obsessions, (although none of them are really new, just rediscovered) is printing; more specifically, lino cutting. My father taught me to lino cut many, many years ago, and until recently I hadn’t thought much more about it. That was until I considered printing my own fabric to get a more unique product.

         I started off with a basic lino cutting kit like this one, just a couple of handles with some interchangeable blades, (until my dad very kindly sent me a Japanese set, which are ridiculously sharp. I can tell you this from experience as I seem to have one cutting accident each time I do I new lino cut, unfortunate but luckily , not serious) and some soft cut lino. It’s important if you’re starting out lino cutting to use the soft cut lino, not just any old kitchen lino, because, as the name suggests, it’s softer and therefore easier to cut. You can buy this type of lino from most good art shops. From there, it’s just a matter of drawing your design, reversing it, and transferring it to your lino; which can be done easily with tracing paper, and then using your tools to cut away the excess lino so your design can be printed! It’s a delightfully simple technique with lovely results. If you want to know more about lino cutting and printing, this site is really good!

Here are a few of my designs:

New Years Resolutions..

I can't believe I've been off blogger for nearly 2 years.. That time has gone so quickly and has been filled with a great many things, both good and bad. I know bloggers have a tendency to apologise for unscheduled absence from the blogging world, but I'm not here to do that. I think everyone understands that sometimes life gets in the way of the things we feel we should be doing, at no fault of our own, and that's what happened here. I do have a resolution though, to blog more frequently. Back in October, I reduced my hours at my day job to give me more time to do things I am passionate about, like sewing. In the run up to Christmas, I had so much work to do that I didn't get a spare moment to think about my online shop or blog, and so, now that everything has calmed down a bit, I fully intend to show you more of what I get up to in my studio.

For the time being, please visit my Facebook page found here, and my Etsy shop, found here. if you get in there quickly, there are a few remaining bags and things which you can use the discount code 'CLEARANCE14' to get a MASSIVE 50% off everything there!

Until next time,

xo